At the heart of Sonoma County, Petaluma City Schools is seeking an exceptional Superintendent to lead a diverse and thriving TK through 12 district known for its strong community roots and commitment to student success
Located just 40 miles north of San Francisco, Petaluma is a historic riverfront city of approximately 60,000 residents that blends small town character with access to the cultural and economic opportunities of the greater Bay Area. With its vibrant downtown, rich agricultural heritage, and welcoming neighborhoods, Petaluma offers a unique sense of place where tradition and innovation come together.
A deep commitment to community, collaboration, and student centered learning defines who we are. Our next superintendent will build on a strong legacy of leadership, guiding a dedicated team of educators and staff who serve a dynamic and diverse student population. Petaluma families are highly engaged and supportive, consistently demonstrating their investment in local schools through partnerships and community involvement. The district is proud of its academic programs, inclusive practices, and focus on the whole child.
Petaluma City Schools is now seeking a visionary and collaborative leader to serve as its next superintendent, beginning July 1, 2026, who will continue to strengthen our schools and inspire excellence across the district.
The Board is working with Human Capital Enterprises to conduct a rigorous, nationwide search. The Board will seek, receive, and review all input from the community; review all candidate applications; interview candidates determined by the Board; and select the new Superintendent.
The Board has set a timeline to recruit, interview, and hire the new Superintendent of Schools to begin their term on July 1, 2026.
The Board has solicited public input on the characteristics, experience, and skills desired in the next superintendent through an online survey and in-person focus group sessions.
All information gathered through focus groups and the Superintendent Search Survey has been compiled, summarized, and incorporated into the “Next Superintendent Criteria”, which can be seen through the link on the right hand side of this page.
By law, the Board is solely responsible for hiring the new Superintendent, The Board will seek, receive, and consider all input from the community, review all applications, interview those candidates determined by the Board, and select the new Superintendent.
All application materials, including the names of applicants and any other personally identifiable information, are confidential.
Yes, in many places. Recent searches in Medford, Beaverton, Portland, Los Gatos, San Francisco, and Salem-Keizer all employed a similar path.
1. Quality of Pool
Top-tier, experienced superintendent candidates are shying away from superintendent search processes in which their names are surfaced publicly prior to selection. This has always been problematic – but in the current era, where superintendents of great talent are in higher demand than ever before – top-drawer candidates are increasingly selective. Many successful superintendents will opt out of a search process where they will be publicly identified as finalists for a job that they may not ultimately get. Recent superintendent searches from districts where finalists’ names are publicly revealed evidence that experienced superintendents are opting out of this kind of a process.
2. Quality of Community Feedback
Although there is sometimes a tendency to think that more feedback is better, in actuality that’s not our experience. Large-scale qualitative feedback is very difficult –if not impossible– to turn into usable feedback for the Board in the short turnaround time that is required. Other areas of concern, such as feedback from stakeholders who may have only watched a single candidate – or who have a strong bias toward a candidate and a large network of friends and colleagues – creates some complexities. Quantitative feedback on finalists in a Superintendent search is of some, but limited, value.
3. Equity
In searches where there is a large-scale amount of feedback, it can feel overwhelming to Board Directors to make sense of the various voices providing feedback. When that happens, it is not atypical that we, human beings that we are, elevate the voices most proximate to us to a higher level of influence: our spouses and partners; our neighbors; our friends; our colleagues. Members of our close circles will have observed finalist processes and they will have their opinions that they eagerly share with us. Because their opinions matter to us, we are influenced by them.
But in a search where a finite number of individuals are providing feedback – individuals who for the most part are not identifiable and represent a broad and diverse array of stakeholders – the Board will truly hear the diverse voices of a representative sample of the community.
Updates regarding the Superintendent search process will be posted here. The Board will also provide updates at its regularly scheduled board meetings and future press releases. If you have questions about the search process or timeline we invite you to connect with us at communications@petk12.org.
